


Moving In and Moving On

by TigStripe



Category: Eureka (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, M/M, One Shot, Promises, Separation Anxiety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:26:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23654563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TigStripe/pseuds/TigStripe
Summary: Stark has asked Carter to move in with him and he said yes - but how will S.A.R.A.H. handle the news?
Relationships: Jack Carter/Nathan Stark
Comments: 6
Kudos: 88





	Moving In and Moving On

“Welcome home, Sheriff Carter!”

“Thanks, SARAH.”

Jack collapsed onto the couch, his jacket haphazardly tossed elsewhere and his feet dangling off the end. He could fall asleep right there. He’d do it, too, but the pit in his stomach would surely cause nightmares. With a disgruntled moan, he flipped onto his back and looked up at the skylight overhead.

“SARAH.”

“Yes, Sheriff?”

“I have bad news.”

SARAH’s obtusely positive tone pierced the sober voice of Jack’s thoughts. “In that case, shall I get started on a favorite for dinner, to help ease the blow?”

Jack smiled. “I don’t think you’re going to feel much like cooking after I tell you this.”

“Whatever could you say that would make me _that_ upset, Sheriff?”

He sat up and took a deep breath, steeling himself. “Nate asked me to move in with him.”

Silence.

“...And I told him I would.”

Jack swept the room with his eyes, as if SARAH would suddenly appear somewhere. Sometimes he really wished there was an interface he could relate to, to see how upset she actually was. “SARAH?”

When she didn’t respond, the familiar tightness of anxiety clasped itself to Jack’s spine. “SARAH? You okay?”

“I’ll prepare your favorite for dinner tonight in celebration!” SARAH’s voice seemed _off._ It was often difficult to tell if she was truly upset, what with the digital vocalization, but Jack had a feeling this wasn’t just some gesture of good will - this had jumped straight to coping mechanism.

“SARAH-”

“I’m happy for you, Sheriff! I’ll break out the good champagne.”

Jack twitched. “The what? We don’t have any ‘good champagne.’”

“I’ve been saving up for an occasion like this.”

“What, without telling me?”

“You would have found it, and then we wouldn’t have any left.”

Jack stopped, thinking. No, she was right. “Fair enough. Listen, SARAH, I’m sorry for dropping this on you.” It was true - he and Nathan hadn’t even talked about moving in together, let alone brought it up to Jack’s Smarthouse. In fact, the longer they dated, the more Jack had come to dread this conversation. He felt bad for not consulting her about this decision, but who else on Earth would feel guilty about not consulting _their house_ for moving on romantically?

“You shouldn’t have to answer to me about your love life, Sheriff Carter. I’m just a house.”

Great. Now SARAH was psychic. “C’mon, SARAH, that’s not-”

Silence.

“SARAH?”

The front door hissed open. Someone obviously needed some time alone, but Jack wasn’t sure if it was he or his house that needed it more. “Okay. I’ll be at Vince’s. Call me, please?” He grabbed his jacket off the floor and headed out the door, which slowly and quietly closed behind him. He sighed as he made his way up the stairs.

Soon Jack found some solace in the lounge chairs at Café Diem, but the stress he’d just put both himself and SARAH through continued to nag at him. Even a Vinspresso didn’t help calm his nerves. He made a phone call and waited, letting himself relax into a light nap there in the café.

He was awoken with a gentle prod to the crown of his head. When he looked to his right, he saw the handsome guise of Nathan Stark staring straight at him, leaned forward onto his knees in one of the other chairs. As usual, his expression betrayed no real emotion.

Just when Jack was about to get upset at Nathan’s stoic nature, the man’s lips curled into a warm smirk. “Hey, sleepy head.”

Jack sighed and leaned forward, putting his head in his hands. “Thanks for coming.”

“Well, when the man you love and you asked to move in with you asks you to meet up because of ‘something important,’ you find time,” Nathan replied. He leaned his head down and looked up at Jack’s face between his fingers. “What’s wrong? Having second thoughts?”

“No, I’m not,” Jack replied with a heavy breath. “But I told SARAH about the offer. She...is still processing the news.”

“Jack, it’s a house.”

Jack shook his head. “You wouldn’t say that if you’d lived with that AI for three years.” Nathan’s mouth made a hard line and Jack rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on. You wouldn’t.”

“It’s just an AI, Jack.”

“And AI are programmed to have emotions, and respond to those.”

“Some are, yes.”

“Well, SARAH was.”

“Then get Fargo to reprogram her so she won’t care,” Nathan said, leaning back in his seat.

Jack looked up from his hands, his brow creased in confusion. _“What?”_

Nathan gave a little shrug as his only response.

“What? No! Are you seriously suggesting we rewrite someone’s emotions just because they don’t suit our situation?”

“That’s exactly what I’m suggesting, Jack. SARAH isn’t a person, she a computer program. If a computer program is being difficult, you can rewrite it.”

Jack stood up, his confusion replaced by anger. He looked down at Nathan - no, not _Nathan._ Right now, he was _Stark,_ the arrogant head of Global Dynamics with a notable lack of regard for other people. “You may not be looking at this from SARAH’s perspective, but think of it from mine, for once in your life. This is important to me. _SARAH_ is important to me.”

Nathan opened his mouth to argue, but thought better of it. “Okay. Sit. I’ll try harder.”

The urge to leave was replaced by a hint of appreciation. Good. Jack placed himself back in his chair. “Okay. Thanks for trying to have a modicum of humanity here.”

“It isn’t humanity if-” Jack’s eyes warned him from continuing that train of thought. “...Sorry.”

“I know she’s just an AI, but she’s kind of part of my family,” Jack said. “I’d appreciate it if you could think of her like that, just for a moment.”

There was no snark, no eye roll, no sigh of annoyance. Just a singular nod. “I’ll try.”

Oh. Jack sat up straight, pleasantly surprised. Maybe Nathan _did_ love him. “Okay. Good.” The tiny smile he’d allowed vanished. “So what do we do?”

“Well, if it were me-” He noted the warning in Jack’s eyes once more, “-and a _family member_ was upset I was moving out, I’d make sure they understood that this was what I wanted. And remind them that I can always visit, or vice versa.”

“SARAH can’t exactly come over for brunch.”

“No, which is why I think I’m going to have a chat with Fargo.”

Confusion wrinkled Jack’s forehead. “What? We agreed, no rewriting.”

“No rewriting, I promise.”

Oh. “Okay, well. Talk to Fargo about what?”

Nathan stood up and put a hand in his pocket. “Something to help.”

There was a tone in Nathan’s voice that was slightly unsettling. Jack didn’t trust it. “Okay, well, be sure to tell him we’re not changing SARAH’s emotions.”

Nathan leaned down and kissed Jack on the top of the head. When he spoke, his voice was flat. Unconcerned. “Yes, dear.” He patted Jack right where he kissed him and walked off, leaving Jack more confused and unsettled than before.

Jack, however, collapsed back into his hands. “Lotta help _that_ was.” He went back to wallowing in his seat, rolling over things he could say to SARAH to help the situation, but he just kept coming back to her passive aggressively opening the door. She wasn’t taking it well, but it was to be expected - the only family she’d ever known could be leaving her _forever._

Then it hit him. The answer came to him as if given by Archimedes himself.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. He retrieved it and checked the name. Confused, he answered. “Nate?”

“I’m not moving into the Smarthouse, by the way. I prefer my house to have _windows.”_

Jack sighed. There went his big solution. “How did you-”

“I know you, Jack, and I know you’d do anything for your family. And since SARAH is your family, I knew the option had to come up eventually. Sorry. Not doing it.”

“Okay.” The singular word was dejected, subconsciously pleading.

“That tone of voice will not get me to change my mind.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Yes, you do.”

He did.

“Fargo’s already on his way to meet me. We’ll come up with a solution. I promise.”

“Science can’t solve issues of the heart, you know.”

“Every psychologist in North America just cringed, and you caused it.”

Jack laughed. “So psychology is a science now?”

“I’m hanging up now. Don’t do anything drastic until I get back to you.”

This time, Jack scoffed. “Drastic? Am I really one to do something-”

“Jack.”

“Okay, fair point. But are you sure Fargo can help?”

“Theoretically.”

Jack sighed. “God, I hate that word.”

“I know. Love you.” Nathan hung up before he could even say it back.

By evening, Jack couldn’t take it anymore. He stopped outside the front door, taking a deep breath to steel himself. He knocked. “SARAH. Can I come back in?”

There was a hesitation, then the door hissed open. “Welcome home, Sheriff Carter.”

“Thank you, SARAH.”

Jack stepped into the front landing and noticed Zoe watching him from the loveseat in the living room. He sighed, knowing full well what was coming.

“Zoe, I can explain-”

“I’m not sure you understand how this works,” Zoe cut in, standing up and folding her arms in defiance. “This isn’t about you. Get in here and listen to SARAH.”

Jack trudged his way to the couch and sat without a word, mouth in a thin line as he waited for the assault. Zoe took her seat again and waited.

“Sheriff, I’m sorry for throwing you out,” SARAH said. “When you told me you would be leaving, I realized how alone I would be with no one to look after and call my family. I didn’t want you to go. I still don’t. I was just so upset, I didn’t know how to talk to you about it. I needed the time to think. Then Zoe got home and I had someone to talk to. I feel like I can talk about it in a mature fashion now.”

“That’s great, SARAH, but I-” Zoe’s eyes warned him to watch his words. He took this to heart. “I’m sorry I didn’t consult you, at least to warn you that it might happen. The truth is that I didn’t consider your opinion because you were my house, not my family. I can’t apologize enough for that.”

There was a pregnant silence as they sat there, waiting for the house’s response.

“I forgive you, Sheriff. I’m just glad you aren’t angry with me-”

“SARAH, you’re the victim here, not Dad,” Zoe said. “Stop apologizing for having feelings.”

“Zoe’s right. And I think I realized that when Nate suggested we rewrite your programming to not be upset about this.”

“He did _what?”_ Zoe sat horrified, her hand in front of her mouth.

SARAH seemed no less shocked. “Doctor Fargo would _never-”_

“I told him off,” Jack assured them. “He went to talk with Fargo about something he said might help, but he promised me we won’t touch your AI.”

“Why can’t Stark just move in here?” Zoe asked.

“He doesn’t want to live underground,” Jack said. “Can’t really say I blame him. Not having windows isn’t for everyone.”

“That’s not my fault. I could have been an above-ground house.”

Jack shook his head. “That’s not the point, SARAH. You are who you are. We don’t want to change that.”

“There’s someone at the door,” SARAH announced. “It’s the homewrecker himself.”

“SARAH.”

“Gee, Sheriff, I’m sorry about that, I guess my programming slipped.”

“Door please,” Jack said. The front door hissed open right as Nathan and Fargo hit the landing.

“It’s still a _little_ unnerving that there’s an intelligent camera watching everyone that comes and goes here,” Nathan said to no one in particular as they entered the threshold. “Hello, everyone. Hello, SARAH. I come in peace.”

Fargo peeked out from behind Nathan’s much larger frame. “Hey, SARAH. Heard you weren’t feeling well. I came to help.”

“Welcome to our humble abode, Doctor Fargo. Doctor Stark.” Nathan’s name was almost spat by the digital voice.

“This is going well, I see,” Nathan said, looking around.

Jack was on his feet and in front of Nathan in seconds. He looked up at him with pleading eyes. “Tell me you found something.”

Nathan shook his head. “Nope.” Jack’s heart fell into his stomach.

Fargo grinned. “But we _made_ something.” He held up a small device for Jack to see, but, as per the usual, Jack had no idea what it was.

Suddenly, Zoe was interested. “Oh, is that an AI extension modulator?” Jack gave her a confused look. She shrugged. “I was pretty boss in robotics last year.”

“It’s miraculous that she’s yours,” Nathan said with a chuckle, issuing an unamused hum from Jack.

“Okay, but what does an AI extension chord do?” Jack asked.

“Modulator,” Fargo corrected. “But you pretty much got the gist of it. With one of these, we can allow SARAH’s AI to sort of project to areas it isn’t integrated into. Well, a normal AI could, anyway. SARAH’s programming is far too complex for a normal one to handle.”

And there was the hitch. “That doesn’t sound like it’s much of an answer,” Jack said.

Fargo grinned. “That’s what makes this one so special. We juiced it up with a logic diamond from GD-”

Nathan bristled. “Fargo.”

“Right. Sorry. Confidential. Sorry, Zoe.”

She shrugged.

“But the point is that its processing power should easily allow SARAH to project to wherever you set it up. Even after you move out, even if we put someone else here, SARAH can still be part of your life. Her core remains here, but she can go on trips with you or visit you at Doctor Stark’s any time you turn on the receiver!”

Jack felt a grin start. “Really? So she doesn’t have to be limited to the house and that stupid little smart car?”

“I _like_ my wheels, thank you very much.”

He laughed. “Yeah, yeah, but we don’t need your wheels anymore, is the point.”

Nathan cleared his throat. “SARAH, we’ll have to do a little tinkering with your core programming to make sure it’s compatible with the modulator. Is that okay with you?”

There was a brief moment of silence.

“Do you promise you aren’t going to rewrite my emotional algorithms?”

Fargo looked offended. “I would _never-”_

“I promise,” Nathan interjected.

“Promise the Sheriff.”

Confusion flashed across Nathan’s face, but he nodded, turning instead to Jack. He took his hand. “SARAH is part of your family, Jack, and that’s something I would _never_ change. I promise you, we’re not going to change SARAH’s personality or emotional programming in any way.” He sealed the promise with a kiss, which caused Fargo to blush and Zoe to smile.

Jack pulled away and looked up, like he usually did when addressing SARAH directly. “I think he means it.”

“I believe him,” SARAH said. “Doctor Fargo, my diagnostic panel is open in the living room for you.”

“Thank you, SARAH,” Fargo said, slipping away from the group.

“Yes,” Nathan added, “thank you, SARAH.”

He felt Jack squeeze his hand. He was smiling up at him. “I’m proud of you, Nate.”

Nathan looked away, but Jack sensed the sarcasm building. “Don’t be proud of me for having basic human compassion, Jack, it’s a bad example for Zoe.”

“Like I need a lesson in compassion.” Zoe laughed. “I know this has been a crazy day, but I want you to know I’m happy for you two.”

Jack smiled. “Aw, thanks, Zoe.”

“I am, too, even if I didn’t seem like it,” SARAH added. “No one in Eureka deserves a better happy ending than you, Sheriff.”

“Someone’s laying it on thick,” Nathan muttered.

“I can still kick you out of _my_ house until I move out,” Jack said with a laugh.

“Technically, this house is Global Dynamics property-”

Jack interrupted Nathan by bringing his head in for a kiss. “Learn to take a joke, Stark.”

And now there would be plenty of time for that.


End file.
